Goat Rodeo

My friend, Dog, is a chef at the world's most exclusive club: 100 members only, it costs millions to get in and a new member can only be admitted if another member leaves or dies. So when Dog told me he was looking for goat meat for lunch for the members, I knew it would be an adventure to find it. Dog wanted baby goat meat that he could roll, tie and roast, so we needed someone who could butcher the goat for him.

We started out on Saturday morning, first heading to Big Boy's World Wide Market, an international market on Paca Street across from Lexington Market. They did have goat, but it was frozen and cubed. Since we were in the vicinity, we stopped in to Trinacria, where we met my Sunday partner-in-crime, Julie, who gave us a suggestion of where to look. We checked out Lexington Market, pretty much knowing that they didn't have goat, but we needed coffee, so thought a walk through the market would at least provide us with that.

From Paca Street, we headed over to a halal market on Charles and 20th streets. We walked in and didn't see anyone and finally called out. There was a man sitting behind a huge glass partition, who couldn't even be bothered to greet us when we entered. He gestured us to the back, where there was a butcher. They did have baby goats, but wouldn't butcher them for us, so we left.

From there, we aimed for Huntington and Remington, at Julie's suggestion, although we realized that these two streets don't intersect. We drove up Remington from 25th until we saw another halal store, and stopped in there. "Oh no", they said, "we won't have baby goats until tomorrow. You come back then." They did point us to a place that they assured us was "in front of Yellow Cab" in best Baltimore directions-giving manner.

To give directions in Baltimore, you must direct people via no longer existing landmarks, not actual street names. Needless to say, although we did find Yellow Cab, which is now Veolia Transportation, we didn't find a butcher. Our queries to cabbies in the area yielded no results, although somewhere along the line, we were told about another halal market on 33rd Street, right next to Papa John's.

Close by the Waverly Market, right on 33rd Street, there is indeed a small halal market, which ends up being rather Tardis-like, being much larger in the inside than the outside. After we wended our way to the back, we discovered a butcher shop which did have baby goats that the butcher was willing to cut for us. He chided us for not ordering in advance, but since we didn't know of the existance of the place until about 15 minutes earlier, that was impossible.

After some hemming and hawing, he assured us that he could do the butcher work, he did have enough baby goats and that it wouldn't take too long. How long, we wanted to know. Several hours? No, just long enough for us to go to Pete's Grille for lunch and walk back.

I did take pictures of parts of this adventure, especially the last part, but I have been assured that people will not want to see them. I had a hard time even taking them. If you must see pictures, click here.

The funniest part about this whole adventure was what happened later: I was going to get my eyebrows threaded by a Pakistani woman in the Security area of Baltimore. When I pulled into the parking lot, I remembered that there was a halal butcher and grocery store next to her shop. I mentioned our goat quest to her and she told me that the owner of the store was her husband, he had a butcher on premise and they did have goat in the house!

Sweet Tooth

Pigtown Mainstreet had our Sundaes on Friday event at Sweet Tooth across from Hollins Market last Friday and it was a ball! For $10, each person got two tickets, entitling them to two sundaes. As much as people protested that they couldn't POSSIBLY eat two sundaes, many people managed!

The ice cream came from Sylvan Beach Ice Cream, which has a store in the Mount Washington area. They have some amazing flavours, including graham cracker and key lime pie. I had some of their strawberry, with crushed fresh strawberry topping and hot fudge as my sundae.

In addition to ice cream, Sweet Tooth has a gorgeous selection of desserts. Two that caught my eye were the brownie chunk cheesecake and the dreamcicle pie!

And So It Begins...

The Downtown Farmers Market started on May 3, much to our delight. Julie and I met up at the usual place, by Baltimore Dog Bakery, at the usual time: 8:00 a.m. We were joined by our friend Elizabeth and some gals from her and Julie's cookbook club.

It was a miserable morning, cool and rainy. Not just a little misty rain, but a chucking down rain. There were not too many vendors there, mainly because it's a late spring and there's not a lot in the fields yet.

I bought two bunches of lilacs, one white and one, uh... lilac. Didn't take pictures of them, but took some of other flowers and the lack of crowds.

Big Bad Wolf BBQ

When I lived in Wales, I never learned the language. Oh, I felt a little guilty about it, but really, when would I ever use it? However, I did come to know three words: Bryn Blaidd Drwg (Y and W are vowels in Welsh). It means Big Bad Wolf.
I realized today that Big Bad Wolf BBQ is only about two miles from my office, so I went over and got lunch. Carolina Pulled Pork with a Kansas City Sauce and Mac & Cheese. I brought them back to my office so I could photograph them and eat them at my desk. The pulled pork or the sauce was a little spicier than I like, but it was very good. The mac & cheese tasted like it had a few types of cheeses in it. I also got a mint-iced tea, which was very refreshing. Of course, anything's better than Southern Sweet Tea.

Wegmans Pink Grapefruit Sorbet

For me, a trip to Wegmans is a huge undertaking. It's about a 50 mile round trip, a bit much for some grocery shopping. On the occasion that I do find myself in the vicinity of Shawan Road, I try and stop in at Wegmans. There are only a few things that I get there that I can't find anywhere else, and one of them is Wegmans house brand Pink Grapefruit Sorbet.

I love pink grapefruit anything, and I've never tasted anything like this. It's got a sharp citrus taste, with little bits of grapefruit rind in it. It's light and crisp and delicious! Added to that it's fat-free, gluten-free, lactose-free and vegan.

It's also the most beautiful pale, pale pink, one of my favourite colours. I bought three pints.

Sundaes on Friday

I am president of the Pigtown Main Street board and we're doing some fun events this summer. The first event is Sundaes on Friday at the newly opened Sweet Tooth Dessert Shop in the Hollins Market area, on Friday, May 1 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Tickets are $10 each, which lets you get two (!) sundaes. Tickets for kids under 10 are $5.00. In addition to sundaes, there will be music and a 50/50 raffle. Sweet Tooth is located at 1111 Hollins Street, and there's plenty of parking available on the streets surrounding it.

All proceeds benefit the programs of Pigtown Main Street.

APRIL FOOD DAY

Do you know that...

• One in eight Americans are at risk for hunger?
• Four million Americans receive assistance from Feeding America each week?
• Children who are hungry have slower emotional, social and educational development?
• Millions of elderly Americans go to bed hungry every night?

It is so critical that those of us who are not in this position help those that are. So many people who never thought they would need food assistance are now asking for help from their local food bank. They have lost their jobs through the massive down-sizings and layoffs. They have exhausted all of their resources. Elderly people on fixed incomes are finding that costs are out-pacing their incomes.

First-time requests at food banks are at an all-time high, but the shelves are bare. Corporations and foundations have decreased their donations and individuals are so uncertain about their own finances, that their giving has slowed.

We are asking that you make a donation, even if it's just a dollar or two, or maybe take a box of canned goods to your local food bank. It will help someone who may be less fortunate than you are.

Here's the link to Feeding America, an affiliation of more than 200 food banks across the country. Chances are that your local food bank is a part of this network.

We're all in this together, and that's the way we will come through it... together.

Please help today. The need is great and the time is now. Thank you so very much.